The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Baghdad:#1: A shooting has occurred in Baghdad during provincial elections. Ghufran al-Saidi, a Shiite lawmaker in the Sadr City district, says a military officer opened fire Saturday after voters chanted slogans at a polling station. He says two people were injured, one of them seriously. Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, told Al-Arabiya television that one person was killed and one injured after some people tried to carry mobile phones through security cordons. The reason for the conflicting accounts was not immediately clear.

One civilian on Saturday was wounded while he was entering a polling center in eastern Baghdad, according to a local security source. “The civilian was wounded while he was entering Sulaiman al-Khazaie polling center in Sadr city, eastern Baghdad, in an attack launched by gunmen from the top of a nearby building,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

One civilians was killed and another was injured in a tribal fight after a car accident in Sadr city in east Baghdad on Saturday morning.

Tikrit:#1: In Tikrit, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad, three mortar shells exploded near a polling station, but caused no casualties, said police, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Four mortars on Saturday landed consecutively near three electoral centers in central and western Tirkit city, causing no casualties, according to a police source. “This morning, two mortar shells fell near an electoral center on al-Arbaen Street, downtown Tikrit, causing no casualties; while a third mortar fell on Pasha Street, western Tikrit; and a fourth near the vegetables’ market in the center of the city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The fourth mortar caused damage to nearby shops and houses, according to the source.

A mortar shell on Saturday fell on a polling center in northern Tikrit, causing no casualties, the fifth of its kind in the city today, according to a local security source. “A mortar hit Omar Ibn Jandoub Center in Tikrit’s northern neighborhood of al-Qadissiya,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A bomb found near a Tikrit voting center was defused, police added.

Tuz Khurmato:#1: Six policemen and a civilian were wounded in a bomb attack in a town north of Baghdad on Saturday as the nation was voting in provincial elections, police said. The attack took place in the main street of Tuz Khurmatu.

Police forces on Saturday killed one civilian in Touz Khormato in gun shooting that erupted after a roadside bomb wounded seven policemen, said the suburb’s mayor. “Police forces today opened fire after a roadside bomb targted their patrol vehicle near the silo, central Touz Khormato,” Mohammed Rasheed told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Seven policemen were wounded in the explosion,” he said.“One civilian was killed in the shooting,” he added.

Baiji:#1: The U.S. military says one of its soldiers has been wounded and an Iraqi is dead after a shooting incident in an industrial city north of Baghdad. The military says one Iraqi has been detained after the incident, which occurred Friday in the city of Beiji, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of the capital. A statement by the military's media office gave no further details but residents said the shooting occurred when a young Iraqi man opened fire on a U.S. foot patrol.

An Iraqi insurgent shot dead a U.S. soldier and wounded another at a town in Salahudin province on Friday, a provincial police source said. "Osama Hashim, a young man fetched his AK-47 assault rifle from his house and opened fire in the afternoon on U.S. soldiers who dismounted their patrol's vehicles in front of his house in the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The U.S. soldiers fired back and killed Hashim before they stormed his house and detained his brother inside, the source said. The reason behind the incident is unknown yet, the source added. A U.S. military statement confirmed the incident, but said that one of its soldiers has been injured and an Iraqi is dead after shooting incident in Baiji.

Mosul:#1: The U.S. military says two Iraqi policemen were killed after they opened fire on U.S. soldiers conducting an operation against al-Qaida near the northern city of Mosul. A U.S. statement says the incident began when U.S. soldiers entered a neighborhood looking for a suspected al-Qaida operative who was believed to be in a building. The statement says the soldiers began taking fire from a separate building and after identifying themselves fired back. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police entered the house and found two Iraqi policemen in civilian clothes had been killed in the exchange.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: A roadside bomb hit a Pakistani army convoy near a Taliban stronghold, killing three soldiers and wounding another six, the army said Saturday. Assailants detonated the bomb Friday evening as the convoy rolled through a village near the Swat valley, an army spokesman said. He requested anonymity, citing policy.

Casualty Reports:

Jeff Pcola, 44, was wounded in Baghdad in 2003 when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the vehicle he was in. He now has steel plates in his body because of his neck and hip injuries.

British Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson suffered brain damage, lost both legs and received a series of other injuries in a landmine explosion in Helmand province in 2006. He is one of the most seriously injured servicemen to survive. But now, after years of gruelling rehabilitation, the paratrooper has succeeded in walking on artificial legs at the Ministry of Defence’s Headley Court rehabilitation centre, near Epsom, Surrey. But he will face another battle in April, two-and-a-half years after he was injured, when he is due to undergo back surgery to rectify curvature of the spine caused by damaged vertebrae. Doctors were unable to operate because his condition was so serious. Now they plan to either support his spine, or remove the affected vertebrae completely in what Mrs Dernie termed a “massive” operation.

Scott Lilley is an airman who suffered serious head injuries in Iraq nearly two years ago (07).

Marine Cpl. Joshua Hoffman, 26, was paralyzed from the chest down when he was hit by a sniper's bullet in Iraq in January 2007. A bullet pierced his neck and exited his shoulder blade, shattering his upper spine as it went through. He spent more than a year in a Virginia Veterans Administration hospital before coming home in March 2008.

Diyala Prv:Mindli:#1: Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen on Friday killed a candidate of a political bloc along with his brother and his cousin in northeast of Baaquba, a security source said. “The gunmen killed Abbas Farhan, candidate of the Islah Wal Tanmiya (Reform and Development) bloc, along with his brother and cousin in a village of Mindli district in Khaneqeen, northeast of Baaquba,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The dead man was a brigadier in the former army,” he noted.

Diwaniyah:#1: On Friday, a roadside bomb found south of Baghdad killed three officers and wounded 14 others after it exploded while they were trying to diffuse it, another Iraqi police official said. The bomb exploded inside a police compound in Diwaniyah where it was taken to be diffused by an explosive ordnance disposal team, said the official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Three bomb disposal police were killed and 20 colleagues wounded as a roadside device they were trying to disarm exploded in central Iraq, a police official said. The officers found the device in downtown Diwaniyah and took it to their station but it exploded as they tried to disarm the bomb, the official said.

Kut:#1: Unknown gunmen on Friday attacked the house of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) official in Wassit and burned his private car, a police source said. “Unidentified gunmen early Friday (Jan. 30) attacked the house of the official of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council in Wassit, Ahmad al-Hakeem, in al-Ahrar district in west of Kut and set his private car ablaze,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The police sealed off the region in an attempt to arrest the gunmen,” he noted.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: The U.S. military says coalition troops killed four militants in a strike on a bomb-making operation in southern Afghanistan. A U.S. statement says the international forces were after a Taliban operative living just outside Kandahar city who has used roadside bombs to attack Afghan police and troops with the U.S.-led coalition. The U.S. says Thursday's raid of the operative's compound turned into a gunbattle when militants fired on the troops, who killed four fighters and captured eight suspected militants.

#2: An Afghan civilian was crushed to death as his car collided with a coalition forces' vehicle in western Afghanistan on Friday. The accident happened in the western province of Herat when the civilian's vehicle collided with a mine-resistant, ambushed-protected vehicle (MRAP) of the coalition troops. Initial reports suggested that the civilian vehicle was travelling at high speed and collided with the military vehicle after cresting a hill.

#3: At lest three security forces personnel were killed Friday and seven others were injured when their convoy was attacked in the restive Swat Valley in northwestern Pakistan, according to local TV reports.

Baghdad:#1: Gunmen killed Mayada al-Bayati, a female political activist for the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, on Wednesday evening in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, police said. Bayati was shot 10 times in the chest.

#2: A gunman killed Omar Farooq al Ani, a candidate of Tawafoq front in Ameriyah neighborhood in south Baghdad. Al Ani was killed near his house in al Madhayif Street around 7 p.m.

Diyala Prv:#1: Gunmen killed three men after kidnapping them. One of the three men is a candidate of the coming provincial election. Police found the three bodies in Mohammed al Malih village east of Baquba.

Candidate Abbas Farhan from the National Movement of Reform and Development was gunned down in a village near the town of Mandili in Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad near the Iranian border, also after a campaign rally.

Kanaan:#1: A suspected al-Qaeda armed group on Thursday blew up three houses in the east of Baaquba, the commander of the 3rd brigade of the 5th division said. “Suspected al-Qaeda armed group blew up three deserted houses in Sisbana al-Kabiera village in Kanaan district, east of Baaquba, after planting bombs inside them,” Colonel Ali Mahmoud Muteab told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He did not add more details.

Basra:#1: A bomb attached to a vehicle killed Haider Nassir, a civil servant and a member of a party participating in Saturday's provincial election, in the city of Basra, 420 km (260 miles) south of Baghdad, police said. Nassir was not a candidate.

#2: Police forces on Wednesday foiled an attempt to bomb an oil well near Basra city, according to the media office of Basra police. “A force from the anti-explosives department defused an explosive charge planted near an oil well in Talha area (80 km north of Basra),” the office told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Mosul:#1: Iraqi security forces on Thursday detonated a car bomb in eastern Mosul, where Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki arrived in it to promote to his list’s electoral campaign, a security source said. “An Iraqi army force on Thursday (Jan. 29) managed to detonate a car crammed with explosives in al-Baath neighborhood in eastern Mosul, without casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Gunmen killed Hazim Salim Ahmed, a candidate for the provincial election in al Amil area in south Mosul city on Thursday evening

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: The death of a newly married Assamese couple in Afghanistan has triggered a controversy with some family members saying that they were killed by the Taliban militia.

#2: The U.S.-led Coalition forces killed four armed militants during operations to disrupt the Taliban network in southern Afghan province of Zabul on Wednesday, said a Coalition statement issued here on Thursday. Coalition Forces targeted a known Taliban leader and explosives expert in Tarnak Wa Jaldak district where the forces engaged militants, killing four armed militants who were maneuvering against them, the statement said.

#3: Militants shot dead an ethnic Pashtun tribesman in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border, after accusing him of spying for U.S. forces, residents and intelligence officials said. Militants blame spies for helping direct missile attacks by U.S. drone aircraft that have killed about 250 people, most of them militants, in more than 30 attacks over the past year.

#4: A landmine blast wounded 14 people, including 10 paramilitary soldiers, in the gas-rich southwestern province of Baluchistan where separatist militants have been fighting a low-level insurgency for decades, police said.

#5: Seven militants were killed on Wednesday during a military sweep in the northwestern Swat valley where troops have been battling Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants since 2007, military officials said.

#6: At least two militants were killed in a gun battle with security forces in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, private TV channel DAWN NEWS reported. Around 50 Taliban militants attacked a paramilitary check point outside the town of Bannu in North West Frontier Province and triggered a gun battle, said the report. The militants were armed with small and heavy weapons, and fired scores of rockets, the DAWN NEWS report said, adding that five militants were also injured

Casualty Reports:

Army SPC Reas Axtell, 25, On the evening of August 28, 2007 a rocket was lobbed into the U.S. Military base in Kirkuk. It landed four feet behind Reas. One of his friends was killed in the attack, several others were hurt and Reas was severely injured. it severely shattered the bones in both of his legs like broken glass. In order to save Reas' life, doctors had no choice but to perform a double hip disarticulation.

Diyala Prv:#1: Eight Iraqi soldiers on Wednesday were killed or wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near Baaquba city, according to a security source. “This evening, an explosive charge detonated on a main road linking Hamreen Lake to al-Saadiya district (155 km northeast of Baaquba city), killing two army personnel and wounding six others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Najaf:#1: Police forces defused four roadside bombs in al-Haideriya district, northern Najaf, and arrested three persons accused of planning them, Najaf police commander said on Wednesday. “On Wednesday morning, four roadside bombs that were planted on al-Haideriya area, on the road leading to Karbala city, were defused,” General Abdilkareem Mustaf al-Amiri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The roadside bombs are of the remote-control type, and were seized based on intelligence tips,” he said.

Tuz Khurmato:#1: Meanwhile, a police source said that another civilian was injured when a bomb exploded targeting an Iraqi army vehicle patrol in Touz Khormato, south of Kirkuk.

#2: Two policemen on Wednesday were killed in an armed attack on a polling center in Touz Khormato district, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on an electoral center in Touz Khormato district (80 km south of Kirkuk), killing two police personnel, including an officer,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

A policeman was killed on Wednesday in a bomb explosion in western Mosul, a police source said. “An improvised explosive device went off on Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 28) targeting a police vehicle patrol in Mosul al-Jadieda region in western Mosul, killing a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: three people were wounded by a bomb in a shop that sells military uniforms.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Taliban insurgents abducted nine workers of a private construction company in a raid in western Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. The militants also burnt down rooms housing the employees of the firm along with their equipment in the attack on Tuesday in Robat Sangi district of Herat province, the ministry said in a statement. The workers were constructing a border police post in the area.

#2: Pakistani military said Wednesday its security forces killed 12 suspected Taliban militants during a major anti-insurgent operation in a tribal village bordering Afghanistan. Security forces were acting on intelligence that militants had gathered in Tor Chaphar, a village on the outskirts of the lawless northwestern town of Darra Adam Khel Bazaar, and were preparing an attack, said the military. The military's media department said security forces armed with heavy artillery pounded suspected hideouts Tuesday and killed 12 militants. The troops suffered no casualties, a statement said.

#3: Taliban militants blew up a boys' school and the houses of six pro-government tribal elders in troubled northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, a local official said on Wednesday. The incidents took place late on Tuesday in the tribal region of Bajaur, where government troops have been engaged in fierce fighting with extremist rebels since launching an operation last August. "A government-run boys' school and houses of six pro-government elders were blown up in different parts of Bajaur," local administration official Mohammad Jamil Khan told AFP. There were no reports of casualties.

#4: A roadside bomb struck a vehicle carrying civilians in southern Afghanistan, killing four and wounding nine, police said Wednesday. Police blamed the Taliban for planting the mine that caused Tuesday's blast in the Zhari district of the southern Kandahar province, police said in a statement.

Casualty Reports:

Robert Andrzejczak, 22, was quick with a quip when he survived a grenade attack in Iraq, even though he lost much of his left leg. he survived the attack earlier this month (01/09) by insurgents in Bayji, Iraq. He initially lost the leg below the knee, but after a severe infection and several operations, more of his leg had to be removed. he had shrapnel in his right leg, and suffered burns to his face and ears.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

NATO is reporting the deaths of two ISAF soldiers in an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, January 27. No other details were released. We are assuming that these are American soldiers.

Baghdad:#1: A high-ranking Iraqi official survived unhurt a roadside bomb explosion near his convoy in central Baghdad on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry source said. An explosive charge went off near the convoy of Maj. Gen. Ahmed Jasim al-Attiyah, director-general of central Iraq customs office, in the Uqba Bin Nafie Square in Karrada district, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The blast occurred when Attiyah was on his way to work, damaging one of his vehicles and wounding three bodyguards aboard, the source said.

Diyala Prv:Baquba:#1: The house of Diala’s land forces commander on Tuesday was totally destroyed when a number of explosive charges went off inside it, causing no casualties, according to a source from the province’s police. “The house is in al-Mohandiseen neighborhood, central Baaquba city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The house was empty when the explosion occurred,” he added.

Mosul:#1: Four persons were killed and another was wounded in a car bomb blast that ripped through eastern Mosul city, according to an army source. “A car bomb went off near the 14 th headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The dead were three soldiers and an army officer,” the source explained.“A member of the Peshmerga forces was also wounded,” he added, providing no further details.

Al Anbar prv:#1: Gunmen attacked and set fire to a voting station on Tuesday in an Iraqi province that was once the heartland of Sunni Islamist resistance to the U.S. invasion, police said four days before milestone local polls. The voting station set up in a school in a remote area 10 km (6 miles) south of the city of Falluja in the western province of Anbar was unoccupied and nobody was hurt in the attack, said police major Ahmed al-Falluji.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Afghan and international forces killed five Taliban fighters in an overnight gunbattle in southern Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday. Taliban militants were also wounded in the clash in Nawa district of Helmand province, but it was unclear how many, said Provincial Police Chief Assadullah Sherzad. He said neither Afghan nor international forces reported any casualties. He did not say what sparked the fighting, which ended in the Taliban's retreat.

#2: Meanwhile, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said three civilians were killed late Monday in eastern Nangarhar province when their minivan was hit by a remote-controlled bomb blast. No explanation was given for the attack, which occurred while the vehicle was headed toward the city of Jalalabad, the ministry said.

#3: In southern Kandahar province on Tuesday, a roadside bomb struck a police patrol and wounded two officers. The bomb went off in the center of Kandahar city, the provincial capital, said provincial Police Chief Matiullah Khan Qateh. The officers were riding in a police vehicle when the attack occurred, Qateh said. The vehicle was lightly damaged, and two other policemen in it were not hurt, Qateh said. No civilians were hurt.

#4: Iran's judiciary spokesman, Ali Reza Jamshidi, said on Tuesday that 12 border policemen have been killed in an ambush by rebels on the Pakistani border. "They (the policemen) were on a mission and they were trapped in the bandits' ambush and 12 of them were killed," Jamshidi said. The rebels fled after the attack on Sunday in the town of Saravan, located in the southeast border area of Sistan-Baluchestan province, he added.

#5: On Monday, Iran's Students news agency (ISNA) reported "A truck which was used to feeding the border outposts with their provisions was attacked by the rebels in an ambush in the zero bordering point of Iran and Pakistan, which led to the martyrdom of some of Iran's border policemen." The report did not say how many Iranian policemen were killed in the ambush.

#6: Two border police officers were killed on Monday night when insurgents ambushed them in the Ghazi Abad district, some 155 km (95 miles) east of Kabul, the provincial police chief said.

Casualty Reports:

Pfc. Justin Shults, 21, said Monday that he suffered his injuries last October in a shower trailer that KBR Inc. had delivered to his unit. Shults, who is recovering in an outpatient unit at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, said in a telephone interview he has burns on his limbs and groin. Shults said he turned on the water and, finding it still too cold in the shower, adjusted a wall heating and air conditioner unit. He was knocked out by an extreme electric shock, he said, and was taken for medical treatment by other soldiers who noticed severe burns on his leg.

Monday, January 26, 2009

MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of four Coalition Soldiers when two aircraft crashed in an undisclosed location of northern Iraq on Monday, January 26th. USA Today reports that two helicopters crashed about twenty miles west of Kirkuk.

#2: The Minister's offices in the Ministry of Science and Technology, Jadriyah, central Baghdad were torched late Sunday. The fire fighters are still trying to put out the fire as this report is being written and no casualties have been reported so far.

Diyala Prv:Baquba:#1: A bomber detonated an explosive device strapped to a bicycle near an office of the Sunni Arab Islamic Party in Baquba, 65km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Five civilians were wounded in the blast and the attacker was shot dead by police as a he fled the scene.

Kirkuk:#1: An explosive device, placed inside a car, was detonated by police forces in central Kirkuk on Monday,” a senior police source said. “A force from the Azadi police found on Monday an improvised explosive device hidden inside a vehicle of a local company inside Kirkuk,” Colonel Bieson Mohamed told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Anti-bombs squad could not defuse it, and forced to detonate it, setting the vehicle ablaze,” he added.

Mosul:#1: Police said they discovered an unidentified decapitated body in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad

#2: Five persons, including a policeman, on Monday were wounded when a car bomb targeted a security checkpoint in downtown Mosul city, according to a local source. “On Monday, a car rigged with explosives detonated near a police checkpoint in al-Dawasa area, downtown Mosul, wounding five, including a cop,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Three civilians were wounded in a bomb explosion in central Mosul, a police source said on Monday. “An explosive charge went off in Halab street in central Mosul, injuring three civilians, including a woman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: A bomb rigged to a bicycle exploded in a northwest Pakistani city on Monday, killing at least five people and wounding 20 in the latest attack to rattle the volatile region. The explosion occurred on a major road in Dera Ismail Khan, and most of the victims were either walking by the parked bicycle or traveling in nearby vehicles, area police chief Saeed Ullah said.

#2: In Pakistan's southwest, gunmen shot dead the leader of a small Shiite political party in the main city of Quetta, triggering violent protests. Several hundred people torched vehicles and a bank, said Mohammed Khan, an area police official.

#3: Elsewhere in the northwest, a man whom militants accused of spying for America was found shot dead Monday in Datta Khel village in North Waziristan, two intelligence officials said. The body was missing the right hand, which had been chopped off. A note pinned to the body claimed the man spied for the U.S. and warned others to "learn a lesson from the fate of this man," said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

#4: Suspected Taliban militants blew up a government-run school Monday in Pakistan's violence-plagued Swat Valley. The boy's high school that was destroyed was located in Mingora, the valley's main city, said Sher Afzal Khan, an education officer for Swat. The attack occurred early Monday and no one was wounded.

#5: The Nuristan province officials confirmed that the Taliban insurgents captured the Gosalk area which is located between Waigal district of Nuristan and Chapadara district of Kuner province. According to Nuristan governor Jamaludin Badar, a group of 700 insurgents captured the area and declared Islamic Emirates there. Unlike Nuristan governor, his Kunar counterpart syad Fazlulllah Wahedi said, the insurgents are not so powerful to disrupt security in the province.

Casualty Reports:

Cpl. Christopher Levi is learning to walk on artificial limbs since losing his legs in a Baghdad bomb blast last year. Shortly before 1 p.m., on March 17, the armored Humvee in which Levi was riding was struck by a bomb at an intersection in the Sadr City section of Baghdad. The explosion cost Levi, 25, both of his legs.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

A detainee in an outdoor solitary confinement cell talks with a military policeman at the Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq in this June 22, 2004 file photo. A senior justice official says the Iraqi government will reopen the notorious Abu Ghraib prison next month, but it will have a new name. The announcement comes as the U.S. military has begun handing over detainees in its custody to the Iraqis under a new security agreement. (AP Photo/John Moore, File)

A U.S. military statement said that the U.S. troops were conducting the operation in cooperation with Iraqi forces as required under an agreement signed late last year between the United States and Iraq. The statement said that Hussein is a suspected leader of al-Qaida assassination cell.

It said that U.S. and Iraqi troops entered Hussein's bedroom and saw his wife reach under a mattress and they told her in Arabic to show her hands, "but she failed to comply" and they shot her dead. Hussein, then, attacked the soldiers and they killed him, acting in "self-defense," the statement said, adding that the girl was wounded by a bullet that exited the mother's body and struck her in the leg.

In the angry aftermath, 40 cars carrying hundreds of people converged on the family's funeral later in the day, said Fadhil Najm, a neighbor. He said the mourners shouted, "Death to America! Death to killers of women!" as they buried the bodies.

Gen. Jamal Tahir Bakir, head of the provincial police, said U.S. forces acted on their own in the raid. The U.S. military denied that. It confirmed the incident but said the raid was conducted in cooperation with Iraqi forces.

Part sheik and part showman, with a dose of barroom humor, [Hamid al-Hais] leads a party that has helped make Iraq's provincial elections this month the first truly competitive vote in Sunni Muslim lands since the United States overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003. By all accounts, that is a good thing. But the results of next Saturday's ballot may say less about the campaigns themselves than about the political geography of Anbar, where tribes, sprawling clans steeped in tradition and courted by the U.S. military, enjoy more power than at any time since the Iraqi monarchy was toppled half a century ago.

Here, the new Iraq looks like the old one, imbued with politics that might be familiar to Gertrude Bell, the British diplomat and adventurer who drew the country's borders after World War I. There is a saying heard these days in Anbar: "Everyone claims they have the love of Laila, but Laila loves none of them." In other words, Laila gets to choose. The same might be said of the tribes, whose mantle everyone claims and which often demand a tidy sum for their support. Coddled and cultivated, the tribes are kingmakers. . . .

The Americans might have hoped the tribes had less power, Hais said, in their vision of a modern state built on the rule of law. "But now," he added, "they're stronger."

The ballot box has become a battleground in Nineveh province, a high-stakes combat zone where Kurds and Arabs will face off over the future shape of the country -- and confront each other over the past. The outcome could set the stage for another round of violence, which both sides insist that they do not want.

"In the last few years, almost 2,000 Kurds have been killed in Mosul," Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani told The Times this month. "We have not responded in the same manner and we have not reacted in any act of vengeance; but of course everything will have its limits."

The US military said Saturday that an operation against a Taliban network had taken place near Mihtarlam, killing "15 armed militants". But locals said civilians were also killed and they were investigating to find out how many. A statement from Karzai's office Sunday said: "An air and ground operation in Garoch area on the outskirts of Mihtarlam town took place midnight Friday resulting in the death of 16 civilians including two women and three children."

It condemned the latest alleged civilian casualties in the fight against Taliban-led insurgents in Afghanistan, saying such incidents "weaken government rule and empower the terrorists." Karzai "once again reminds the coalition forces that bombing Afghan villages will not yield anything in the war against terror except civilian casualties," it said.

The first message of the Pakistani government to General [David] Petraeus, the American General when he took command of the region was that they did not want any more bombings in Pakistan. Actually, the first message to the new Obama administration by President [Hamid] Karzai of Afghanistan was the same, that he wanted no more bombings. He also said that he wants a timetable for the withdrawal of the foreign troops, US and other troops, from Afghanistan. That was of course just ignored.

Marines might be out of Iraq by July: The top Marine Corps commander said yesterday that his forces already have begun pulling equipment out of Iraq and that nearly all his troops could be out in six months.

Reported Security incidents:

Baghdad:#1: One civilian man was killed and two others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went of in western Baghdad city on Friday, according to an Iraqi police source. “The IED, which was emplaced at the intersection of al-Khadraa neighborhood, western Baghdad, left a civilian killed and two others wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#4: Gunmen threw a grenade on the people at the Adhemiyah coast road in northern Baghda around 8 p.m. Three people were wounded.

Diyala Prv:Baquba:#1: A bomb placed on a bicycle wounded a civilian and a policeman when it struck a police patrol in the centre of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in downtown Baquba around 10 a.m. Three people were wounded including two policemen.

Sadiya:#1: Gunmen burned three truck trailers in Sadiya village (northeast of Baquba) on Friday night. One driver was killed while the other two are missing.

Mandali:#1: Three civilians were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack near their vehicle southeast of the city of Baaquba on Saturday, a security source in Diala said. “An IED went off near a vehicle on the main road in Mandili district, (90 km) southeast of Baaquba, wounding three civilians on board,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Hilla:#1: Unknown gunmen on Saturday opened fire on the house of a provincial candidate in downtown Hilla city, but no casualties were reported, according to a security source.

Al Hafriya district:#1: A roadside bomb went off on Saturday targeting a U.S. convoy in northern Wassit, devastating one of the convoy’s vehicles, said a source from the province’s police. “A roadside bomb, which was planted by unknown individuals on the highway connecting Kut to Baghdad near al-Hafriya district (105 km north of Kut city), detonated targeting a U.S. convoy,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “One U.S. military Hummer vehicle was devastated in the attack,” he added.

Jarf al Sakhr:#1: Four Sahwa (Awakening) council fighters were killed or wounded in an armed attack on their checkpoint near Hilla city, according to a police source. “Unknown gunmen attacked a checkpoint set up by Sahwa forces in Jarf al-Sakhr district (60 km northwest of Hilla), killing two Sahwa fighters and wounding two others,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.“The gunmen fled to an unknown destination after they had caused material damage to the building,” the source noted.

Diwaniya:#1: Five rockets on Saturday fell on the U.S.-run Camp Echo in western Diwaniya province, according to an Iraqi army source. “A fire broke out inside the camp following the attack,” eyewitnesses told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.Aswat al-Iraq news agency contacted the media advisor for the Multi-National Force (MNF), who said he has no information to release in this regard.

Basra:#1: A security plan on Saturday was launched in Basra province to maintain law and order during the upcoming provincial elections, due to be held later this month, Basra’s Operations Command said. “A joint force from the army and police was deployed to roads and checkpoints as part of a security plan to secure the electoral process,” Col. Abbas al-Tamimi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The plan will be entirely carried out by Iraqi forces, the official explained, adding that the Multi-National Force (MNF) will remain in its bases.

Hawija:#1: US soldiers killed an Iraqi couple and wounded their eight-year-old daughter during a raid against suspects near the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, police and the US military said.The incident took place at 2 am (2300 GMT on Friday) when troops burst into the home of Hussein Ali, a police source said. They killed him and his wife, and wounded the child, according to a neighbour in Hawijah village, west of Kirkuk. A US army spokesman confirmed the casualties, saying the raid was a combined operation with Iraqi security forces in Haqijah.

Mosul:#1: A civilian man was killed and two others wounded in a blast from an improvised explosive device in the city of Mosul on Saturday, a police source in Ninewa said. “An IED went off near a police patrol in Bab al-Jadeed area, central Mosul, killing a civilian and wounding two others, including a policeman,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Al Anbar Prv:Karmah:#1: A car bomber has struck a police checkpoint northwest of Baghdad, killing at least 5 policemen and wounding 13 people, police says. The bomber drove a car loaded with explosives into a police checkpoint in Jarma, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad on Saturday. Five policemen were killed and thirteen others including six police officers and seven civilians were wounded in the bombing.

Iraqi officials say three people have been killed in a suicide car bombing west of Baghdad. Police say the attack targeted a police patrol in the former insurgent stronghold of Karmah. Police and hospital officials say those killed in Saturday's attack include a senior police officer and two civilians. They say six other people were wounded.

Thirteen people have been killed in a car bomb attack targeting a police patrol near the western Iraqi city of Falluja, police have said. A spokesman said the police patrol was returning to its base in the town of al-Karmah when the attack happened.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: The U.S. coalition said Saturday that an overnight raid killed 15 Taliban militants but village elders who quickly traveled to speak with government officials said the dead were all civilians. A detailed U.S. statement said multiple teams of militants fired on the coalition forces during a raid in the eastern province of Laghman, including a woman the U.S. said was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade. "We know the people who were killed were shooting at us," said Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan. "The people who were killed today were running around, maneuvering against our forces, and we killed them. "But Hamididan Abdul Rahmzai, the head of the provincial council in Laghman, said village elders arrived at his office hours after the early morning operation to complain that the 15 killed were innocent civilians.

#2: update Suspected U.S. missiles killed 18 people on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border yesterday in the first such attacks on the militant stronghold since President Barack Obama took office, Pakistani officials said. At least five foreign militants were among those killed in the strikes by unmanned aircraft in two parts of the frontier region, an intelligence official said without naming them. There was no information on the identities of the others. The missiles destroyed two buildings, killing 10 people, at least five of whom were foreign militants, the officials said on condition of anonymity. Hours later, a second missile struck a house in South Waziristan, killing eight people, the officials said, giving no more details.

#3: Two civilians have been unintentionally killed with four more wounded by friendly fire of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghan province of Helmand, said ISAF statements received here on Saturday. A local man, who was suspected laying IEDs (Improvised Explosive Device) near an ISAF base in Gereshk district, was killed by ISAF forces on Thursday, the statement said. It added that an ISAF soldier killed the victim after he ignored two warning shot and kept digging.

One Afghan girl was killed and two more were wounded when rockets, fired by insurgents at a NATO-led base, missed their target and landed on a house in Kunar province, 155 km (95 miles) northeast of Kabul, on Friday, the alliance said.

#4: Two civilians were killed and eight wounded late Saturday when a suicide bomb ripped through a busy market in eastern Afghanistan, local officials and police said. "The attacker was on foot, walking in the local bazaar when he exploded in the middle of the crowd," Sam Kanai district Governor Sadat told AFP. "Two people were killed and eight wounded, all are civilians," he said. Paktia province police chief Ghulam Dastaijeer said that the case was under investigation.

Casualty Reports:

Sgt. Terry Fleming, 26, On May 14, 2007 a roadside bomb had exploded under Fleming’s Humvee while he was on patrol in Iraq. Flames had burned every part of his body except his torso and the top of his head. The intense heat had singed the pigment off his face. The flames had destroyed so much skin on his arms and legs that his body oozed blood. He lost the fingers on his right hand. He is missing his pinkie on the left. The heat singed the pigment off his face except for the area where his chin strap wrapped around his face and chin.

Maj. David Rozelle is the first amputee in to return on active duty to a combat zone. While in Iraq, commanding 140 troops of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Maj. Rozelle lost part of his right leg when a landmine exploded under his Humvee.

Baghdad:#1: A civilian man was killed by unidentified gunmen fire in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Shaab on Thursday, police said. “Unidentified gunmen in a civilian vehicle opened fire at a civilian man in al-Shaab neighborhood, northern Baghdad, killing him instantly,” an Iraqi police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Diyala Prv:Balad Ruz:#1: Six women and two men were killed, in Bladrouz 30 km south Baquba, capital of Diyala province, when an unknown group attacked by machine-gun a primitive brick factory at dawn, a provincial police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. A child was also injured in the attack, the police source added.

Gunmen shot dead eight members of a family, six of them women, in an overnight raid on their home in Iraq's volatile northern Diyala province, police said. The attackers then abducted two other family members, a man and woman, from the house in the village of Maamil near Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, Balad Ruz police Lieutenant Abdul Jabbar Raheem told Reuters.

Suwayra:#1: Four persons of the same family were killed by unidentified gunmen fire in northern Wassit, a security source in the province said on Thursday. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire today (Jan. 22) at a family of four in al-Zohour neighborhood, al-Suwayra district, (135 km) north of al-Kut city, killing them all instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “No motives could be detected for the killing of a father, his wife, daughter and son,” the source added.

Mosul:#1: Joint Iraqi-U.S. forces killed three gunmen during a security operation in the city of Mosul on Thursday, the media advisor of the U.S. troops said. “Acting on intelligence information, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched an operation to arrest a leader of an armed group in the city of Mosul on Thursday (Jan. 22),” the advisor told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The forces came under fire attack, forcing them to respond, killing three gunmen,” he also said.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: A remote-controlled bomb targeting a military convoy on Friday killed a civilian and injured two others in northwest Pakistan's troubled Swat valley, security officials said. The bombing took place at a village near the town of Mingora, where the military is battling militants loyal to Mullah Fazlullah who have launched a violent campaign to impose Islamic law in the area. 'One civilian travelling in a car was killed and two others sitting with him were injured by shrapnel,' a security official was quoted as telling AFP news agency.A soldier was also injured, the official said. He added that the main convoy was unscathed because the road-side bomb went off when the convoy had just passed by.

#2: Later, a suicide car-bomber killed two soldiers and wounded 11 people in an attack on a checkpost, the military said.

#3: Intelligence officials say a suspected U.S. missile strike has killed at least five people in a Pakistani village close to the Afghan border. The officials say Friday's attack took place in North Waziristan. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. The identities of the victims were not immediately known.

Marine Corporal Derrick Sharpe in 2006, the Marine from the Berwick area stepped on an explosive device while serving in Iraq. He lost his right leg and suffered such severe injuries that doctors told him he would never be able to have a child. "Well over 100 surgeries. I'm covered from head to toes with injuries and stuff like that.

Baghdad:#1: A civilian was killed and two others were wounded on Thursday in a car bomb explosion in southeastern Baghdad. “A car rigged with explosives exploded targeting a U.S. vehicle patrol on the highway between al-Qanat region and al-Mashtal in southeastern Baghdad, killing a civilian and injuring two,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The explosion damaged a U.S. military vehicle,” he added.

#2: A roadside bomb targeted a U.S. military convoy in al Qanat Street, southeastern Baghdad at 8 a.m. Thursday damaging one Hummer vehicle. No casualties were reported.

#3: On Wednesday, one Iraqi soldier was killed and another was wounded when a U.S. patrol opened fire on them in al-Zaafaraniya area, southern Baghdad.

Abu Dashier:#1: Joint Iraqi-U.S. forces on Thursday waged a security operation in south of Baghdad, eyewitnesses said. “The forces waged the operation in Abu Dashier region, south of Baghdad, searching for weapons,” eyewitnesses told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. They did not add more details.

Basra:#1: A woman on Wednesday was killed by a landmine in Jubeida area in the west of Basra province, according to the media office of the local police.”A landmine from previous wars detonated near a woman who was herding sheep in Jubeida area (40 km west of Basra), killing her on the spot,” the office told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An improvised explosive device (IED) on Wednesday evening detonated near a Multi-National Force (MNF) patrol vehicle west of Basra city, causing no casualties or damage.

Samarra:#1: Wednesday A child was severely wounded by an explosive charge that targeted a U.S. patrol vehicle in Samarra, a security source said. “This afternoon, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near a U.S. patrol vehicle in downtown al-Dour district, seriously wounding a child, Omar Hizaa,” a source from the joint coordination center in Tikrit city told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: One unidentified body, with the head cut off was found by a police patrol in al Eit neighbourhood, 30 km to the east of the city of Samarra, Wednesday. The body was clad in a traditional dishdasha gown and was partially decomposed.

Mosul:#1: U.S. forces on Thursday killed three brothers inside their house, in a raid operation in southern Mosul city, said a source from Ninewa province’s police. “U.S. forces on today at dawn raided a house in Albosaif village, southern Mosul, and killed three brothers inside the house,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He did not mention further details.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Afghan troops killed eight militants and wounded two others in eastern Khost province early Thursday, said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the defense ministry. The soldiers were dropped in to the area by helicopter, sparking fighting that lasted hours, Azimi said. The dead included foreigners, but Azimi did not disclose their nationalities.

NATO-led forces killed 22 militants in ground and air assaults in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost overnight, the alliance said on Thursday. A NATO-led patrol was attacked by Taliban insurgents and foreign forces retaliated with close-air and ground support, killing 22 militants in Babrak Tana district, which is close to the Pakistani border, the alliance said. Earlier a statement from the Ministry of Defense said Afghan troops killed eight insurgents and wounded two more in a fierce battle in the same district of Khost province overnight.

#2: Separately, U.S. coalition troops killed six Taliban fighters during a raid on militants blamed for roadside bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan, a coalition statement said. In southern Zabul province, meanwhile, the U.S. coalition troops hunted Wednesday for a Taliban commander involved in a roadside-bomb network and the movement of foreign fighters, a coalition statement said. The U.S. soldiers clashed with Taliban militants who opened fire on them from their compound after they refused to leave peacefully, it said. Five insurgents were killed in the gunbattle, and one militant who fired from behind large rocks died in an airstrike.

#3: U.S.led coalition troops killed six militants and detained one more in an operation targeting roadside bomb network in the Dechopan district some 250 km (155 miles) southwest of Kabul on Wednesday, a U.S. military statement said.

#4: Two children were wounded when ammunition being used by the militants went off during NATO-led troop operations targeting them in the Sangin district some 490 km (305 miles) southwest of Kabul on Monday, ISAF statement said.

Casualty Reports:

Canadian Private Andrew Knisley, the London soldier who lost his leg in Afghanistan this week. Knisley was injured Monday while on patrol outside Kandahar when a roadside bomb detonated. On Monday, he was listed in serious condition and had his right leg amputated. His condition has stabilized, his sister said. Knisley also has nerve damage in his right arm, with one nerve completely severed.

Baghdad:#1: A car bomb attack targeting a Sunni politician who heads a Baghdad Islamic university killed four students on Wednesday, underscoring a recent surge of violence here, officials said. At least 10 people were wounded in the attack that hit the convoy of Ziyad al-Ani, chairman of the university in Adhamiyahm, a Sunni Muslim enclave of the predominantly Shiite northeast of the Iraqi capital.

#2: Tuesday The deadliest blast targeted a US convoy shortly after 3 pm in a northwestern area of Baghdad called Mansour, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding the two US soldiers, the US military said.

#3: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed five policemen and wounded three in Dour, near the city of Tikrit, about 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, police Captain Anwar Mohammed said.

Diyala Prv:Khalis:#1: Police forces on Wednesday found six mass graves in north of Baaquba city, a police source said. “Policemen found six mass graves with 18 decayed bodies in al-Ahiemar village in al-Salam district in Khalis, north of Baaquba,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Iskandariya:#1: A civilian was killed on Wednesday in a bomb explosion in north of Hilla city, a media source said. “An improvised explosive device (IED) stuck to a civilian vehicle detonated in al-Asriya village in al-Askandariya district, north of Hilla, killing the driver,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Basra:#1: Police patrols on Wednesday found the body of a kidnapped policeman in west of Basra, the media official of the Basra police said. “A force from the borders police on Wednesday morning (Jan. 21) found the body of a policeman in al-Zubair district, west of Basra,” Shawqi al-Mohmadawi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Makhmour:#1: Iraqi army forces on Wednesday found an unknown body in west of Makhmour district, an Iraqi army source said. “An Iraqi army force found a body of a 40-year-old man on Wednesday (Jan. 21) on the main road between Makhmour and al-Qayara district, west of Makhmour,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The body shows signs of gunshot wounds,” he added, noting that the body was sent to the forensic medicine department in al-Qayara, 80 km south of Mosul.

Mosul:#1: Gunmen killed a broker and when they attacked him inside his office in downtown Mosul on Tuesday afternoon. A civilian was injured in the incident.

#2: Two Iraqi soldiers on Wednesday were wounded in an explosive charge blast that ripped through Ninewa province, according to an army source. ”An improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Areej village (7 km west of Mosul) while an Iraqi army patrol vehicle was passing the location, wounding two patrolmen and causing damage to the vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Afghanistan:#1: A suicide car bomb killed three Afghan soldiers and wounded five on Wednesday in the western province of Herat, the Defence Ministry said. Western backers cannot bring security. The suicide bomber detonated his explosives next to an army vehicle in the Mir Awad area of Herat province, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

#2: A suicide car bomber wounded nine people, including the provincial police chief, during a wedding on Wednesday in Baghlan-e-Jadeed district, around 180 km (110) miles north of Kabul, a police official in the area said.

#3: Taliban insurgents fired rockets on police posts in several areas on the outskirts of Kandahar overnight, some 500 km (310) miles southwest of Kabul, but there were no casualties reported, a police official said.

#4: Three children and an adult were wounded when militants fired rockets into residential areas of Khost some 150 km (95) miles east of Kabul on Tuesday, the defense ministry said.

#5: Afghan security forces killed two Taliban insurgents and detained one during a sweep on Tuesday in Kandahar province some 500 km (310) miles southwest of Kabul, a statement from the defense ministry said

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreported by the military. Staff Sergeant. Joshua died of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan on Friday, January 16th.

Baghdad:#1: An Iraqi high-ranking official survived a bomb explosion on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry source said. Ammar Aziz Muhammad Ali, undersecretary of Higher Education Ministry, escaped unhurt when a roadside bomb went off near his convoy in the Nidhal Street in Baghdad central district of Karrada, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The blast wounded two of Ali's bodyguards and two bystanders, along with damaging one of his convoy's vehicles, the source said.

#2: In separate incident, two civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb went off in the neighborhood of Zaiyounah in east of the capital, the source added.

#3: Another civilian was injured in the day when a roadside bomb detonated at an intersection in the Shaab district in northern Baghdad, he said.

#4: Three Iraqi army soldiers were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in northern Baghdad, police said.

#5: Two people were wounded by a roadside bomb near the Shaab soccer stadium in central Baghdad, police said.

#6: A roadside bomb wounded five members of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol and three civilians on Monday in Adhamiya district of northern Baghdad, police said.

#7: At least five people were wounded in a car bomb explosion targeting a U.S. patrol in Baghdad's western district of Mansour on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry source said. "A car bomb parked at the Amirat Street in Mansour neighborhood went off at around 3:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) near a passing U.S. patrol," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. A plume of gray smoke rose into the air by the powerful blast that also badly charred five civilian cars at the scene, the source said. It was not clear whether the U.S. troops sustained any casualty as they sealed off the area preventing the Iraqi police from approaching the scene, the source added.

Diyala Prv:Baquba:#1: Three pedestrians were wounded in the city of Baquba when a bomb exploded near the entrance of the headquarters of a Sunni political bloc participating in the upcoming provincial elections, police said. Baquba is 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad

Basra:#1: Police Colonel Adbulmajid Mohammed was killed by an explosive device planted under his car in the town of al-Zubair, near the oil-rich southern city of Basra, a police source said. His driver, also a police officer, was rushed to hospital in a critical condition after the bomb detonated as they were driving to work.

Mosul:#1: Police shot dead a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt when he tried to approach their checkpoint in western Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. One policeman was wounded in the incident.

An Iraqi police force foiled Tuesday a suicide bomb attack on their checkpoint in the city of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, a local police source said. The policemen opened fire on a suicide bomber who blew up his explosive vest near their checkpoint in the Yarmouk district in western Mosul, wounding three policemen, including one in a critical condition, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The policemen had suspicions on the man who was approaching their checkpoint and ordered him to stop, instead, the man ran toward them, prompting them to open fire and a powerful explosion occurred just close to their position, the source said.

Tal Afar:#1: Six persons on Tuesday were wounded when a hand grenade was thrown at a security checkpoint in Talaafar district, according to a police source. “A gunman threw a hand grenade at a police checkpoint in Hassan Koi area (60 km west of Mosul city), wounding six persons, including two police personnel,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Suspected Taliban militants killed six alleged U.S. spies in a lawless region of northwest Pakistan police said Tuesday. A tribal police official, Sharif Ullah, said the bodies of the six accused spies were found at two militant strongholds in the North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border early Tuesday. Five Pakistani men were shot to death in the town of Miran Shah, while the sixth man - an Afghan national - had been hanged from a tree in the town Mir Ali, he said.

#2: The slayings came hours before a bomb wounded five police officers in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan. Police official Mohammed Ashraf said the blast Tuesday hit a police vehicle when it stopped on a road in Peshawar. Unidentified assailants planted the bomb in a section of gas pipeline under construction, he said, adding the possibility of a gas explosion had been ruled out.

#3: US-led coalition in Afghanistan has killed 22 Taliban militants, including two of their commanders, the US military has announced. A Taliban commander, Mullah Patang, and 18 fighters were killed on Monday during an operation at Kapisa, around 50 kilometers north of Kabul, reads a US military statement released Tuesday.

#4: Separately, the international forces reportedly killed another Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Rahim Akhund, and one of his aides in an operation in southern Kandahar province on Monday.

#5: In addition, two more militants were killed in the neighboring Zabul province, adds the statement.

#6: A series of controlled military explosions spread alarm in the Afghan capital as President Hamid Karzai addressed parliament on Tuesday. The blasts were heard in east Kabul, and a U.S. forces spokeswoman told Reuters there were two controlled explosions, carried-out at an Afghan National Army training centre.

#7: Two police were killed and two more including one civilian sustained injuries as a bicycle bomb rocked Taliban former stronghold Kandahar in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, provincial administration spokesman Zalmai Ayubi said. "The gruesome incident occurred in Kandahar city, the capital of Kandahar province, at 1:30 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) killing two police on the spot and wounding two others including one police and one passerby," Ayubi told Xinhua.

#8: Taliban militants stormed a police post near Afghanistan&aposs western border with Turkmenistan, killing three policemen and abducting eight others, local officials said today. The armed insurgents attacked the post in the northwestern province of Badghis yesterday, deputy provincial governor Abdul Ghani Sabir told AFP. " Three policemen were killed in the attack and Taliban took eight other policemen hostage,"he said. Sabir had no information on any casualties among the attackers.

#9: Suspected separatist militants shot dead three people in an attack late on Monday in gas-rich Baluchistan province, police said.

Casualty Reports:

Canadian Pvt. Andrew Knisely had been badly injured when what's believed to have been an improvised explosive device went off as he was on patrol in Afghanistan. He reportedly lost part of his right leg to the blast and there are questions about whether doctors will be able to save his right arm.

Mary Dague, 24, picked up a partially defused homemade bomb in Iraq in November 2007. she had lost her arms, much of her hearing and some of her eyesight and suffered a fractured occipital bone in the blast.

Spc. Leigh Herring, 28, was in a nearby building at Camp Eggers, located in Kabul, when the driver detonated his bomb. "The car bomb ran into a fuel tanker and it was like a gas station blowing up," said his mother, Diana Dailey of Chillicothe. "He was about 30 or 40 feet away. The shrapnel or glass came through the window and knocked him across the floor." Herring suffered 46 lacerations from the flying debris plus a concussion. His wife, Cassandra Herring, said the Army was going to fly him to a medical facility in Germany for further testing. "They called it traumatic brain injury, bruising on the brain. He has significant memory loss but they (the military) are hoping it will repair itself," said an exhausted Cassandra Herring on Monday.

Baghdad:#1: A bomb blast near a security checkpoint in southern Baghdad on Monday killed a police officer and wounded seven people, including three soldiers, police said. "A police captain was killed and seven people among them three soldiers were wounded when the bomb exploded," a police official told foreign news agency. The blast occurred near a checkpoint on a road leading into Zafaraniyah neighbourhood in southern Baghdad, he added.

A roadside bomb explosion near an Iraqi Army checkpoint in the Zaafaraniya district in southeast Baghdad, killing an off-duty police captain, who was passing by, and wounding seven people, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. A soldier was among the wounded people, the source said.

#2: In separate incident, a twin roadside bomb explosions struck a police patrol in an intersection in the Shiite neighborhood of Amel in southern Baghdad, wounding two policemen and damaging a police vehicle, the source added. Three civilians were also wounded by the blasts, he said.

#3: Four civilians on Monday were wounded in an explosive charge blast that ripped through southeastern Baghdad, according to a police source. “An improvised explosive device (IED) stuck to a civilian vehicle detonated in Saeeda area, southeastern Baghdad, wounding four civilians,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Basra:#1: Sunday A magnetic bomb planted under a car belongs to an employee of the Basra prisons near a petrol station in western Basra city. The employee was wounded.

Dalouiya:#1: A U.S. vehicle on Sunday night was devastated in a roadside bomb attack in western al-Dalouiya district, according to police sources from Salah al-Din province. Another police source said that “a roadside bomb went off during a late hour on Sunday night targeting a U.S. patrol at al-Dalouiya Bridge (90 km north of Baghdad), causing severe damage to the vehicle.”

Tikrit:#1: Two civilians were killed on Monday in a bomb explosion in south of Tikrit city, a police source said.“An improvised explosive device went off on Monday (Jan. 19) in al-Eishaqi region in south of Tikrit, killing two young men,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Mosul:#1: A suicide bomber killed the deputy leader of Iraq's second-biggest Sunni Arab political bloc on Sunday as he and other politicians met to discuss an upcoming provincial election, the party's leader said. Hassan Zaidan al-Lihebi, deputy leader of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, was killed by a suicide bomber who stormed his house, shot at guards and blew himself up in a crowded reception room, Saleh al-Mutlaq, the party's leader, told Reuters. "The suicide bomber opened fire on the guards and entered the house. They tried to stop him but they didn't manage to do that before he got near Hassan and blew himself up," Mutlaq said. Police sources said between one and four other people were also killed, including a policeman, in the attack in the town of Qaiyara, south of the northern city of Mosul.

A suicide bomber targeted the former major general Hassan Zaidan, whose son Falah is a parliament member of the national dialogue blog at the Haj Ali village in Qaiyara (south of Mosul) around 6 p.m. Zaidan was killed in that incident.

#2: Four civilians on Monday were wounded when an explosive charge went off in eastern Mosul city, according to a security source. “An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near an Iraqi army patrol vehicle in al-Darkzaleyya area, eastern Mosul, wounding four civilians who were close to the scene of the blast,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: An Iraqi soldier was wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near his patrol in northeastern Mosul city on Monday, a military source said. “An IED exploded near an Iraqi army patrol in al-Bakr neighborhood, northeastern Mosul, leaving one soldier wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, not giving further details.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Taliban insurgents have blown up four schools in the north-western Swat region of Pakistan, officials claim.The schools were destroyed in the town of Mingora despite a recent government pledge to reopen schools in the violence-plagued region. "Militants blew up two girls schools and two boys schools," a government official told the Reuters news agency on Monday. The schools are reported to have been closed at the time of the attacks and no-one is thought to have been injured.

#2: Pakistan reopened a major land supply route to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan that was briefly closed Monday after suspected insurgents killed a soldier and wounded 14, adding urgency to efforts to secure alternative supply lines as more U.S. troops head to the region. The famed Khyber Pass, where growing militant activity has prompted several temporary closures in recent months, was reopened in the early afternoon, said Fazal Mahmood, a senior government official in Khyber tribal region.

#3: A suicide car bomb attack near the gates of a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan killed one Afghan on Monday and wounded several more, officials said. The attack targeted Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost City, near the border with Pakistan, said Lt. Cmdr. James Gater, a spokesman for the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. An Afghan health official, Dr. Gul Mohammadin Mohammadi, said one Afghan was killed and four were wounded in the attack.

#4: Suspected tribal rebels blew up a gas pipeline in Pakistan's insurgency-hit southwestern province of Baluchistan on Monday, suspending supplies to several areas, officials said. The pre-dawn blast damaged a main pipeline bringing gas from the Pirkoh field to the Sui purification plant in Dera Bugti district, said security and company officials on condition of anonymity. No casualties were reported, a gas company official said.

#5: In another incident, a roadside bomb struck a police van in Khost city, wounding one police officer, head of crime department of police Mohammad Guldad told Xinhua.

#6: A Canadian soldier was seriously injured Monday by an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan. The soldier was on foot patrol about 23 km west of the city of Kandahar around 9 a.m. local time when the device exploded, said a statement from the military.

Casualty Reports:

British Peter Bowker, 21, lost a leg in a bomb attack in Afghanistan. the explosion, which broke his right leg in four places, shattered his ankle and blew off part of his heel. "I was in the lead vehicle with a metal detector between my legs, and we were just about to get out to check the road for mines and IEDs (improvised explosive devices), when one hit us.

U.S. Army Captain Ivan Castro, 41, was injured in Iraq. The wounds resulted in the loss of his sight as well as a good percentage of muscle mass.

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. David Webber, 36, is recovering from wounds he received last month in Afghanistan. On Christmas Eve, he had just come down from scanning snipers in a lookout tower at the outpost when he found himself on all fours, ears ringing, feeling like he'd been hit in the face with a shovel. "I couldn't feel my arm," Webber said. "I could move my fingers but couldn't feel my arm." Later Webber learned the truck he'd been standing behind had taken a mortar strike and he had been hit with shrapnel. One soldier was killed and two others were injured. a medic tore off Webber's right sleeve to reveal a wound that was draining blood at the rate of a pint a minute. His face, shoulder and chest were damaged by shrapnel, but the major concern was his arm, which had to be stanched with a tourniquet. He was airlifted to Forward Operating Base Orgun-E. Surgeons stabilized him and shipped him to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. David expects to make a full recovery and return to active duty.